Quality-of-life perception in elderly women who practice and do not practice the Pilates’ method

Abstract Background The aging process causes a reduction of the physical function, allowing the individual to have a decrease in the perception of the quality of life. Therefore, regular physical activity can be a favorable factor for a better perception of quality of life. Objective The aim of this study was to compare the quality-of-life perception of elderly women practitioners and non-practitioners of the Pilates’ method. Method divided into three exercise type groups and two age groups: 60-64.9 and 70-74.9 years. The exercise type groups were as follows: Pilates’ method practitioners (n=60), gymnastics practitioners (n=63), and non-practitioners of regular physical activity (n=62). The WHOQOL-OLD and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires were applied to evaluate the quality-of-life perception. Statistics: The Shapiro-Wilk test verified the data distribution and comparative analysis was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Mann-Whitney Post-Hoc and Bonferroni correction. All analyses were processed using the SPSS software at 5% significance level (p<0.05). Results For 60-64.9-year-old group assessed by the WHOQOL-OLD questionnaire, the non-practitioners of regular physical activity showed better perception in the social participation domain than that of the gymnastic practitioners. For 70-74.9-year-old group assessed by the same instrument, the Pilates’ method practitioners showed the best perception in most of the quality-of-life domains. Conclusion Elderly women practitioners of the Pilates’ method obtained the highest scores in most of the quality-of-life domains for the 70-74.9-year-old group.